Winter 2024 Newsletter: Zen & Boxing

Chozen-ji continues to expand its offerings in Zen & Boxing. In collaboration with world champion Michele Aboro and led by chief instructor Carl He, we are now offering boxing four days a week. The weekly classes build a base of skill and fitness for regular students and provide a chance to teach core Chozen-ji Budo concepts like hara, kiai first, and the immovable mind. Despite being a Western martial art, boxing has been a very efficient entry point for a cohort of new students into budo at Chozen-ji. Using Michele’s high level of expertise we are able to express the “Do” of boxing and have it shift from merely an animalistic, violent sport, to a truly refined art form.

In July, we offered the first ever boxing sesshin. The week consisted of four to five hours of intensive boxing every day, morning and evening zazen, okyo, sanzen, and teisho. By the end of the week, everyone was in the familiar terrain of exhaustion, fatigue and surprising sensory awareness. We will offer this again in Summer 2025.

Intro to Boxing & Zen in Oakland

In July, we offered an introduction to Zen & Boxing at the Gopa Boxing Gym in Oakland, California. More than 30 people attended, including teenagers and long-time Zen practitioners. Participants were introduced to zazen, as well as the foundational elements of world champion Michele Aboro’s boxing training curriculum. The event finished up with a talk story session with Michele and Chozen-ji priest Christine Cordero addressing Michele’s impressive career, how to get started training, and why meditation and boxing are good compliments. We are looking to do a follow-up event in Oakland in 2025.